Method for packaging an article of food



y 5, 1954 c. c. AUSTIN ETAL 3,132,023

METHOD FOR PACKAGING AN ARTICLE OF FOOD Filed Nov. 6, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

FIG. 2

Z// ///l III II 1 2Z7 T l8 INVENTORS i CHARLES c. AUSTIN BYLIONEL N. WHITE WM 28 www 3 ATTORNEYS y 5, 1964 c. c. AUSTIN ETAL 3,132,028

METHOD FOR PACKAGING AN ARTICLE OF FOOD Filed Nov. 6, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII).

FIG. 4

INVENTORS CHARLES C. AUSTIN LIONEL N. WHITE ATTORNEYS May 5, 1964 Filed NOV. 6, 1961 FIG. 63

c. c. AUSTIN ETAL METHOD FOR PACKAGING AN ARTICLE OF FOOD 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 VII/IIII/IIII/IIIl INVENTORS CHARLES C. AUSTIN BY LIONEL N. WHITE ATTORNEYS May 5, 1964 Filed NOV. 6, 1961 C. C. AUSTIN ETAL METHOD FOR PACKAGING AN ARTICLE OF FOOD 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 UP ELEVATOR, l7 BAND LAP ROLL, 2I

BAND CUT I LEFT PusI-IER, l4 R'GHT I WEB LAP ROLL, 20 UP EB MOVABLE SUPPORT ROLL,'22

sEE FIG. 2, 3, 4, s, 2.

I FIG. 7

I INVENTORS I CHARLES c. AUSTIN i LIONEL N. WHITE I BY ATTORNEYS 3,132,028 -METHOD FOR-PACKAGING AN ARTICLE OF FOOD Charles C. Austin, Hollis, and Lionel N. White, Nashua, A N. H. assignors t Nashua Corporation, Nashua, N.H.,

a corporation of Delaware ,Eiled Novifi, 1 961, Ser. No. 150,503 3 Claims. (Cl.99171) This invention relates to a package and packaging method for food articles, and is more particularly directed to an improved package and method for packaging loaves of bread and similar bakery products.

The present invention is concerned with a package of a type which includes a web of transparent material, such as aweb" of cellophane or other film coated with a thermoplastic heat-sealable resin composition, or a thermoplastic heat 'sealabletransparent film such as polyethylene, polyprdpylene, and the like, wrapped about the loaf with the sheet edges sealed in overlapping joints or folds the various cutting, wrapping, and sealing steps in a can vennoiia'r ack ging'operation, the printed band under lies the transparent sheetfc'ompletely about the girth of thebread leafgan d'is out to a length e ual to that of the Web df wrappingmaterial; By the term length? in this description is meant that dirriension which initially runs in the direction ofwrappingvveb feed and which extends, inthe final pack age, peripherally about the loaf, The eiidsof these equal lengths'of band insert and wrapping Web of'themIiItiIayer wrapping sheet form a joint, preff 'b y derlying the bottom of the 1021i, which may prisesfintercalate'd alternate layersof film and band ma,

terial. -i

Th'e strength'of'thejoint or seal at'the bottom of the laf is" dependent upon the; degree of adhesiveness be- 1 tween'tlie film 'an'd'thef band," and in instaiices where substah'tial ainounts' of'an expensive typeofheat-saladhesive 1 are not'eniployedseparatiofi or failure of this seal is not"uncom'rno'n." Alarge percentage of bread packages,

for example,- presently employ the combination of poly ethylene film wrapping' sheets and Wait-coated printed paper" bands" The Wait c6atiiigs on the insert bands serve,""ainong otherthingsf to preserve the fresh appearance of the band and to protect the loaves from foreign fgrnishing an Teconomical heat-activatable adhesive surface to improve the previously mentioned overlapping bottom; seal. Although formulations for insert band coatings are continually being improved, the inherent in'com patability of petroleum waxes and polyethylene results inr eyitably inthe' separation of these heat fused materials" I withfres ultingweakening or ultimate failure of the bottom {freshnesspfithe packaged loaf'occurs' as a result.

flav'or's. whichniightfaccompany the band. The mostim vportant function'ofthe wax coatin'g, however, is that of" "seal.' Rapid degradation of the quality and- Such weak and undependable adhesive bonds are ea yvithlfilin band combinations other than that occurring with andpolyetliylene. The use of United States Patent 3,132,028 7 Patented May' 19 64 ene, terephthalata cellulose acetate, and coated regenfilms of polypropylene, rubber hydrochloride, polyethyh erated cellulose and other films presenting surfaces .diflicult to adhere to, result in similar unsatisfactory bottom seals. l

Solutions to the problem presented by theinterleaved multilayer bottom seal construction have been proposed, including the use of highly adhesive heat seal compositions coated upon the insert band. Although effective in' maintaining secure bottom seals, the use of such special-p ized adhesive coatings remains economically unfeasible since'the widely practiced packaging methods and devices require an overall coating of the insert bandj Partial coating of the band with the specific adhesive compositions, combined with intricate registration means necessary to allow automatic processing, is also undesirable.

It is the primary object of this invention toprovide a:

package for bread loaves and thelike which provides a longer period of storageprotection for the contents.

It is a further object of this invention to provide animproved packageandpackaging method which afford a secure and economical bottom' seal in bread loaf packages employing transparent Wrapping films and band in s'erts.-

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved and more economical packageland packaging method'of a kind which utilizes transparent wrapping films and bandinse'rts.

It is still a further object of this invention to reduce:

the length of band insert' consumed in packaging bread loaves and the like.

,The thermoplastic adhesive properties of wrappingfilms, and vari'ousfilin coatings, as with the regenerated cellulose films; provide a means for forming joints and seals of remarkable strength and integrity, when such film materials are mutually bonded to one another by the application ofheat. Thebonds thus formed are of,

at cohesivehratlier thari adhesive nature' and permanent compatability and seal strength is insured.

- According to the present invention, advantage is ta'ke'n: of'the superiority of such mutual cohesive seals by elimi mating the conventional interleaved ends of the insert'band from the joint or seal underlying the bottoin'of the loaf.

The resulting joint structure consistsof one end portion of the .transparent'web lying in direct contact with the opposite ,endportion of the web, so thatapplicationof" heat tlothe jointre'sults in secure sealing of the two Web" layers. The joint lies intermediate the leading andtrailing edges ,of the band, 'which are shortened to permit this direct web-to=web seal.

1; In5addition to the improvement in the bottom seal of the bread loaf package of this invention, an additional economic advantage is secured. In conventional bread loaf'pa'ckag'es characterized by equal lengthsof trans;

parent'w'rappingweb and' ,insertband, the length of inserfba'iid underlying th'bqlom of the loaf, in addition t6"intertering with the'bottom seal, is wasted because any printedfidentification or' design thereon is not visi were the consumer Rei'novaldtthese underlying sectionsof the band resultsin a saving of a proportionate amount "of the cost with no loss in useful adver- 'tisin'g or printingspace on the package. L,

A'further reduction "in the cost of this package results' from the fact thatthe wax composition coated on the insert hand i ee d no longer be compound to furnish" the relatively high degree of adhesiveness previously necessary in the formation of interleaved bottom seals. Simple inexpensive warg ,compositions will sufiice for coatings" of the insert bands used in this novel package.

r IAccording to a preferred mqde of-carryii1g out the packaging method of this invention in a repetitive mannet, indefinite lengths. of web and band are arranged in overlapping longitudinally-aligned relationship, and in an initial cycle, a leading-edge portion of the web is extended forwardly of a leading edge of the band. In subsequent cycles, this step is carried out by an intermediate step in the preceding cycle of the process, which thus lends itself to repetition. The Web and band are then wrapped partially about a loaf of bread. or the like, preferablyv beginning with the leading edges engaging the bottom surface of the loaf, in such a fashion that the web envelops and overlies the band and the loaf. The band is then drawn further about the leaf and sheared to form a trailing edge in the wrapped sheet of band, the sheet being of such length as to overlap" a portion of the bottom of the loaf, but falling short of the bands' leading edge, so as not to overlap the aforementioned web leading-edge portion. The web is then wrapped further about the loaf andis sheared to form a trailing edge in the wrapped sheet of web, which is of such length as to extend rearwardly of the trailing band edge,

to form a web trailing-edge portion which is subsequently wrapped to overlap and directly engage the webs leadingedge portion. The overlapped edge portions of the web are then sealed directly to one another, as by the application of heat, and'the ends of the package are sealed in the same or any" other conventional manner to complete the packaging operation and hermetically seal the loaf.

In a repetitive cycle, the steps of shearing the band,

and then shearing the web rearwardlyof the trailing.

edge of the band, are each carried out separately after first drawing out new lengths of band and web, respectively; the web length is drawn out to a greater extent than the band length, so that theshearing' steps form the leading edge of the next portion of web forwardly of the leading edge of the next portion of band, to pre-arrange the wrapper elements for carrying out the next repetitionof the packaging cycle to Wrap a succeeding loaf.

While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out the subject matterwhich .is regarded as the invention, it is believed that atcle'arenunderstanding may be gained from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof,

referring to the accompanying drawings, in which:

web underlying the loaf thereby form a face-to-face scalable overlap extending the length of thecentral portion of the package bottom. Application of heat to the bottom of the package, particularly in the overlap area, results in activation of the adhesive coating of the wrapping material, or alternatively in softening of the thermoplastic film itself, whereby a strong leak-proof bond is formed between the overlapped end portions of the a web.

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view showing a preferred embodiment of the improved package;

FIGS. 2-6 are schematic views showing the successive steps of a preferred mode of-carrying out the packaging method and FIG. 7 is a graphic illustration of the se ations of the machine elements in FIGS. 2-6.

* In'FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings, a loaf of bread 1 is shown Wrapped in a preferred embodiment of the improved bread loaf package 2, as it would gen erally appear upon the market shelf, with a printed paper band 3 and the bread loaf visible through an enclosing web 4 of transparent flexible film material. At one end intended torepre'sent in itself'a'ny part of the present invention.

s..The ends 6 ofthe printed bandS underlie the bottom of the bread loaf, but do not extend to its surface 8 center; according to the invention, they terminate in spaced-apart relation, to permit the formation of a direct web-to-web seal 9 in overlapping-Web. end or edge portions definedbetween-a leading-edge 10a and a trailing edge 10b of the wrapped web. The end portions of'the by means of automatic packaging machinery;

quence of oper Referring to FIGS. 2 7, the improved packaging process is illustrated as it may be performed by automatic bread wrapping machinery, which is generally of a conventional type illustrated and described by the co-pending application of Henry T. Pauk and Frederick Spaney, Jr. filed October 24, 1961, entitled Bread Wrapping Method and Apparatus, and assigned to the same assignee as the present application. The, machine includes a table 11 for feeding an indefinite length of a transparent web material 12 and a printed band material 13 longitudinally toward a Wrapping station, with the band underlying the web and aligned longitudinally therewith, The band is of lesser width than the web, and may be arranged centrally thereof in thelateral direction. A pusher 14 is arranged for movement in the direction shown by the arrow to transfer aloaf of bread 15 from an input feed tray 16 to a' spaced-apart elevator table 17, for partially wrapping the loaf within the composite wrapper formed by the band and web. A shear 18 is mounted on a lower surface of the elevator table, for movement relative thereto in a direction to shear the band to form successive trailing and leading edges therein; and a fur-,

ther shear 19 is mounted above the table 11 for horizontal movement to shear the web.

In conventional machines, a single lap roller is provided to draw a trailing edge of the composite wrapper downwardly, about the right-hand side of the loaf as viewed in the drawings, and also to draw out new lengths position shown in FIG. 2. Additionally, a movable band' support roller 22is arranged to support the leading edge of the band'in a desired position. Thelap rolls, as well as the elevator table 17, are arranged for substantially vertical movement by any suitable means, to various relative positions shown in the remaining figures for carrying out sequential steps of the process.

A delivery runway 24 is stationarily supported above the laprolls for the discharge, of a preceding wrapped loaf 25 from the machine, by means of a series of pusher for engagement by the arms 26 carried by an endless chain conveyor 27. The. elevator'table 1'7 maybe raised tothe level of the run way 24 to deliver wrapped loaves for discharge by the pusherarms ln connection with the description of the steps of the process which follows, reference may be had not only to FIGS. 2-6, but to FIG.7,in which the sequential stages numbered 2-6 indicate the relative positions of the elevator 17, the bandlap roll 21, the pusher 14, the web lap roll 20, and the movable support roll-22, shown in the correspondingly-numbered figures, it will'be understood that the process isadapted to cyclical repetition.

In an initial phase of the packaging operation, the leadingedge 28 of the web extends forwardly ofthe leading edge 29 of'the-band to form a-webleading-edge portion 1 30;; The terms forwardly and rearwardly as used in 76] this description refer "to" the longitudinal directions of web 'andgband feed. "The movablesupport roll 22 is held in a position beneath the band lap roll 21, to bring the' free endsof the Webandband into close juxtaposition loaf 1510 commence the wrapping operation;

As shown in FIG. 3,.the web and band are partially wrapped about the loaf 15 by the movement of the latter onto the elevator table 17, with the protruding web leading-edge portion 30 and the leading edge 29 of the band underlying the bottom surface of the loaf. The remaining elements maintain their positions during this operation' except that upon engagement of the wrapper by the loaf, the movable support rolleris carried to the right as viewed in FIG. 3, to permit subsequent downward movement of the band la'p roll 21. V H

Referring to FIG. 4; the band lap roll 21 then drops downwardly to draw out a new length of band for a succeeding wrap, to bring the trailing-edge portion of the preceding sheet of band downwardly about the right side of the loaf 15, and dwells temporarily for cutting of a trailing edge inthe b and by means of the shear 18. During this phase of operation, the pusher 14 is withdrawn to the right as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 4, preparatory to receiving a succeeding loaf. After being sheared, the newly-formed leading edge 29? of the length of band drops downwardly as shown by the arrow, and the trailing edge 32 formed in the preceding sheet of band depends freely from the loaf. The band sheet is cut at such a length that upon subsequent wrapping of the trailing edge 32 under theloaf, it terminates'in' spaced-apart relation to the leadingedge 29 as shownin'FIG. 2 in relation to the preceding loaf 25. r

' While the trailing'e dge ofthe'band may abut or even overlap" the web leadiii'g edge' portion 30, within the broader aspects f the invention, it must terminate for- Wardly of the trailing edge of the web, in order that directcontact may be made between the leading and trailing edges of the web. Furthermore, the band preferably extends only slightly under the lower right-hand corner of the loaf, to reduce to a minimum the length of band material consumed by each wrapping.

The band lap roll 21 is then raised toward its former position, shown in FIG. 15. The web lap roll 20 is lowered to the intermediate position shown, to draw out a succeeding web length for a subsequent wrapping operation, to draw the trailing end of the web downwardly over the right side of the loaf, and to support the web in a position to be cut by the shear 19 at a desired length. Concurrently, the elevator 17 rises to a raised position level with the runway 24, and the shear 19 then cuts a trailing edge 34 to terminate the preceding sheet of Web.

1 The parts are positioned in FIG. 5 in such juxtaposition that the lineal length of webbetween the top center point wardly of the leading edge 29 of the band. Subsequent to the shearing step, the new leading edge 28' of the succeeding length of web falls to the position shown in FIG.

6, and this movement is assisted by further downward movement of the web lap roller 20.

' Subsequent to shearing of the web, theloaf 15 is carried to the right by a pusher arm26 and the conveyor 27. As the loaf traverses from the elevator table to the runway 24, the trailing edge 32 of the band, and a web trailing-edge portion 36 formed by the rearward protrusion of the web trailing edge 34, are wrapped under the loaf, ,as shown inFIG. 2 in relation to the preceding loaf 25, in such a manner that the web leadingand trailing-edge portions 30 and 34 overlap in direct surface contactfor subsequent sealing by the application of heat and/ or pressure. Sealing may be obtained by means of suitable adhesives previously applied to the web surfaces, but is i preferably secured by direct fusion or adhesion of the web material to itself. The seal lies intermediate the leading and trailing ends 29 and 32 of the band.

Referring again to FIG. 6', a succeeding loaf is in-" troduced onto the tray 16 as the precedingloaf 15 is dis: charged, andthe parts return to their initialpositions of FIG. 2, in preparation for the wrapping of this new loaf. The leading-edge portions 28' and 29' of the web and band, respectively, have been prepared by the preceding cycle for wrapping the new loaf, by the formation of a protruding web' leading-edge portion 30'.

While the method of the invention has been shown as it may be carried out in a preferred manner by automatic machinery, it will he understood that the process may alternatively be performed by other machinery, or by hand.

In a bread package embodying. the present invention, it is unnecessary that any substantial adhesive bonding be accomplished between the insert band' and the outer,

film wrapper, as was required inpreviou'sly-known bread loaf packages. It may be advantageous in some applications,,howev'er, that the simple wax coating 'of the insertband, used primarily forprotection of the band and food product as aforementioned, be employed as a heat-bonding. agent for superficially joining the insert band and outer web wrapper. In this, manner the over-' all appearance of the packagemi'ght be improved.

These and other variations of the novel package of this invention may readily occur to those skilled in the and be accomplished by the exercise of ordinary mechanical skill. It is anticipated that particular embodi-l merits of the package and packaging method described herein may be respectively constructed and performed according to specific requirements, without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of packaging a food article, which comprises the steps of partially wrapping an indefinite length of web and an indefinite length of band in longitudinally-aligned relationship about a food article in such manner that said web overlies said article and said band, shearing and wrapping said length of band to form a trailing edge therein terminating a sheet of wrapped band, drawing said indefinite length of web lforwardly with respect to the remainder of said indefinite length of band Without altering the longitudinal juxtaposition of the portion of said length of web and said band sheet previously wrapped about the article, shear ing and wrapping said length of web to form a trailing edge thereof terminating a sheet of wrapped web of a length enveloping said article and forming a trailing-edge portion in said web sheet protruding rearwardly partially about a food article in such manner that said web overlies said article and said band but a leadingedge portion of said web extends forwardly of a leading edge of said band and directly engages said article, shearing and wrapping said length of band to form a new leading edge therein and also atrailing edge to terminate a sheet of wrapped band of a length engaging said article with said leading and trailing edges of said band sheet spaced apart on .the surface of the article, drawing said indefinite length of web forwardly withrespect to the remainder of said length of band without disturbing the longitudinal juxtaposition of the portions of said length of web and said band sheet'previously Wrapped 7 about said article, shearing and Wrapping said length of web toforrnQa trailing edge td'terminate a sheet of Wrapped web of a length enveloping said article and forming a trailing-edge portion in saidweb sheet pro- ;truding rearwardly of said band sheet and overlapping 3. The method of individually packaging successive food articles, which comprises the steps, in only an initial cycle, of; arranging an indefinite length of web material and an indefinite length of band material of lesser width than said web material in longitudinally-aligned relationship, and shearing said band and said web to form longitudinally spaced-apart leading edges therein such 7 that a leading-edge portion of said web protrudes forwardly of a leading edge of said band; and the steps, in a repeatable cycle, of wrapping lengths of said web and said band partially about a food article in such manner that said web overlies said article and said band but said leading-edge portion of said web directly: en

' gages said article, shearing and wrapping said length of bandto form a new leading edge in said indefinite length of band and also a trailing edge to terminate a sheet of wrappedband of a length engaging said article with said leading and trailing edges of said band sheet spaced 7 apart on the surface of the article, drawing said indefinite length of web forwardly with respectvto the remainder I of said indefinite length of band without disturbing the longitudinal juxtaposition of the portions of saidlength of web and said band sheet previously wrapped about said ar-ticle, shearing'and wrapping said length of Web to form a'trailing edge to terminate a sheetof wrapped web of a length enveloping said article and forming a trailing-edge portion in said web sheet protruding rearwardly of said band sheet and overlapping said leadingedge portion of .said web sheet in direct engagement therewith, said last-mentioned shearing step also forming-a new leading edge in said indefinite length of web such that a new, leading-edge portion of said indefinite length of web protrudes forwardly of said new leading edge of said indefinite length of band for wrapping a succeeding article, sealing said leading-edge portion and saidtrail-ing-edge portion of said web sheet to form a direct web-to-web bond therebetween, and sealing the ends of the wrappedfood article.

References str am the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS "1,849,774 Taylor Mar. 15, 1932 2,286,307 Replogle June 16, 1942 2,408,317 Jones Sept. 24, 1946 2,592,723 Elsrnan Oct. 26, 1954 

1. THE METHOD OF PACKAGING A FOOD ARTICLE, WHICH COMPRISES THE STEPS OF PARTIALLY WRAPPING AN INDEFINITE LENGTH OF WEB AND AN INDEFINITE LENGTH OF BAND IN LONGITUDINALLY-ALIGNED RELATIONSHIP ABOUT A FOOD ARTICLE IN SUCH MANNER THAT SAID WEB OVERLIES SAID ARTICLE AND SAID BAND, SHEARING AND WRAPPING SAID LENGTH OF BAND TO FORM A TRAILING EDGE THEREIN TERMINATING A SHEET OF WRAPPED BAND, DRAWING SAID INDEFINITE LENGTH OF WEB FORWARDLY WITH RESPECT TO THE REMAINDER OF SAID INDEFINTE LENGTH OF BAND WITHOUT ALTERIN THE LONGITUDINAL JUXTAPOSITION OF THE PORTION OF SAID LENGTH OF WEB AND SAID BAND SHEET PREVIOUSLY WRAPPED ABOUT THE ARTICLE, SHEARING AND WRAPPING SAID LENGTH OF WEB TO FORM A TRAILING EDGE THEREOF TERMINATING A SHEET OF WRAPPED WEB OF A LENGTH ENVELOPING SAID ARTICLE AND FORMING A TRAILING-EDGE PORTION IN SAID WEB SHEET PROTRUDING REARWARDLY OF SAID BAND SHEET AND OVERLAPPING A LEADING-EDGE PORTION OF SAID WEB SHEET IN DIRECT ENGAGEMENT THEREWITH, SEALING SAID LEADING-EDGE PORTION AND SAID TRAILING-EDGE PORTION OF SAID WEB SHEET TO FORM A DIRECT WEB-TO-WEB BOND THEREBETWEEN, AND SEALING THE ENDS OF THE WRAPPED FOOD ARTICLE. 